Grand Rapids, MN – More than 2,500 Lake Country Power members are without power in the Grand Rapids and Mountain Iron service areas. High wind speeds with gusts up to 36 miles-per-hour, combined with soft soil conditions from this week’s rain saturation is causing trees to topple onto power lines. Unless the wind conditions begin to mellow, more outages are anticipated through the evening.

Line crews are working to restore power. Lake Country Power expects the majority of members will have power restored by Saturday afternoon.

Members may call the cooperative at 1-800-421-9959 for more information.

Lake Country Power, www.lakecountrypower.coop, is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. The rural electric cooperative provides services to more than 42,000 members and has offices located in Grand Rapids, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.

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Tips for extended outages:

• Make sure one of the phones in your home is not a cordless phone as these use electricity and therefore do not work during power outages
• Use a battery powered flashlight, not candles.
• Keep a battery operated radio handy to listen for outage information and updates
• Turn off electrical equipment you were using before the power went out
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Food should keep for up to 48 hours in a freezer, if the door remains closed. If the outage persists, cover your refrigerator or freezer with a blanket, make arrangements to store food at another location, or purchase dry ice.
• Essential supplies: flashlight, batteries, radio, extra supply of water, food.
• Turn off and unplug your computer if you were using it. Buy a surge protector to protect the machine when power comes back on.